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Introduction to Anthropology
Test 1 Review
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Chapter 1… Anthropology
The Scope of Anthropology
 Anthropology can be defined as the study
of humankind in all times and places
 Broader in scope than other disciplines
 Every part of the world containing human
populations is of interest to anthropological
study.
 Includes studying other primates to look
for clues about our ancestral origins
The Holistic Approach
 Anthropology is a unique discipline
because it employs a holistic, or
multifaceted, approach to the study of
human beings.
The Anthropological Curiosity
 Anthropologists generally focus on typical
characteristics of a population.
 When describing a group of people, anthropologists may
discuss:
 the history of the area in which they live,
 the physical environment,
 the organization of family life,
 the general features of their language,
 their political and economic systems,
 their religion,
 their diet, or
 their styles of art and dress.
Cultural Anthropology
 Cultural anthropology is concerned with
how and why cultures vary or are similar
in the past and present.
The Three Branches of Cultural Anthropology are:
Archaeology
Linguistics
Ethnology
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Archaeology
 Archaeologists try to reconstruct history
from the remains of human cultures.

How do archaeologists differ from
historians?
Most studies deal with prehistory
Some specialize in historical archaeology
Anthropological Linguistics
The anthropological study of
language.
Historical Linguistics
Study of how languages change over time and how they are
related
Descriptive or Structural Linguistics
Study how contemporary languages may differ
Sociolinguistics
Study how language is used in social context
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Ethnology
 Commonly referred to as cultural
anthropology, ethnology is concerned
with patterns of thought and behavior.
Ethnographers
Ethnohistorian
Cross-Cultural Researcher
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The Relevance of Anthropology
In order to understand humans, it is
essential that we study humans in all
times and places.
Anthropological studies can illustrate
why other people are the way they
are, both culturally and physically.
Chapter 2. Culture
Defining Culture
What is Culture?
 Culture is a set of learned behaviors
and ideas that are characteristic of a
particular society or other social
group.
 material culture Vs. non-material.
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Ethnocentrism
The person who judges other cultures
solely in terms of his or her own
culture is practicing Ethnocentrism.
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Cultural Relativism
The anthropological attitude that a
society’s customs and ideas should be
described objectively and understood
in the context of that society’s
problems and opportunities became
known as Cultural Relativism.
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 Adaptive and maladaptive traits in culture
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How and Why Cultures Change
 Diffusion is a process by which cultural
elements are borrowed from another
society and incorporated into the culture
of the recipient group.
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How and Why Cultures Change
Acculturation refers to the changes
that occur when different cultural
groups come into intensive contact.
Typically, a situation in which one of the societies in
contact is much more powerful than the other.
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Ethnogenesis:
The Emergence of New Cultures
Ethnogenesis is a process whereby new
cultures are created usually in the
aftermath of violent events such as
depopulation, relocation,
enslavement, and genocide.
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Globalization:
Problems and Opportunities
Globalization is the spread of cultural
features around the world.
The diffusion of a cultural trait does
not mean that it is incorporated in
exactly the same way.
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Chapter 3
Early Anthropological Theory
Early Evolutionism
 Darwinism influenced cultural
theory. In the early years the
prevailing view was that culture
generally develops (evolves) in a
uniform and progressive manner.
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Early Anthropological Theory
“Race” Theory
Evolutionism influenced anthropology in
the 19th century to posit that the reason
human cultures differed was because they
represented separate subspecies of
humans or “races.”
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Later Anthropological Theory
Historical Particularism
Frank Boas opposed evolutionism
Stressed the importance of
collecting as much anthropological
data as possible, from which the
laws governing cultural variation
would emerge
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Later Anthropological Theory
Functionalism
An analysis of what function or part
some aspect of culture or social life
plays in the maintenance of society.
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Later Anthropological Theory
Structuralism
Lévi-Strauss’ approach views culture
as a surface representation of the
underlying patterns of the human
mind.
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Later Anthropological Theory
Cultural Ecology
The study of the relationships between
cultures and their physical and social
environments.
Later Anthropological Theory
Political Economy
Assumes that external forces explain the
way a society changes and adapts. Central
to this approach is the social and political
impact of those state societies that
transformed the world by colonialism and
imperialism after the mid-1400s.
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Recent Developments in
Anthropological Theory
Feminist Approaches
With the advent of the “women’s
movement” of the 1960s, a focused
effort on studying the roles of women
was found necessary.
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Recent Developments in
Anthropological Theory
Postmodernists
All knowledge is subjective and
actively shaped by the political
powers-that-be.
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